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Written by leading diving authorities, Abbeville's Dive Guides combine the best in underwater photography with the most complete, three dimensional diagrams and practical information on the world's most popular dive spots.

Three-dimensional maps in full color of each site illustrate 28 of the most spectacular dives in the Caribbean. These maps offer what no book has ever before provided: the information needed to plan your dive down to the last detail. You can review the exact layout of the site—including depths, sizes, and distances between reefs and wrecks or any hazards—and even the lighting conditions for optimum underwater photography. The short chapters covering each dive provide crucial data about depths, currents, weather variables, and plant and animal life, and each book ends with a full-color visual encyclopedia of the most common fish that inhabit the area.

The experts' lively text has been vetted by Diving Science and Technology Corp. (DSAT), a corporate affiliate of Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), making these the most reliable guides for the expert as well as the first-time diver.

America's Master Architect

A comprehensive and affordable view of the master architect's entire oeuvre, including private residences, public buildings, furnishings, and decorative pieces.

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) is unquestionably America's most celebrated architect. Even today, almost forty years after his death, he continues to tower over the architectural landscape. In fact, his career was so long and his accomplishments so varied it can be difficult still to grasp the full range of Wright's achievement.

In this refreshing new study, Wright scholar Kathryn Smith does just that, exploring the grace and beauty found in all facets of Wright's work: from office desks and chairs to his first residential commissions, from magazine cover designs to major public buildings. The concise text and brilliant color photographs chart Wright's entire career, beginning with his apprenticeship to Adler and Sullivan before the turn of the century. Readers witness the Prairie period, Wright's years in Japan and California, his major designs of the late 1920s and 1930s, his Usonian houses, and the monumental late works of his last decades. Smith shows examples of Wright's drawings, furniture, and decorative arts, too, supplementing our understanding of Wright's aesthetic. The book concludes with a glimpse at the architect's seldom-seen collection of Asian art, which once comprised tens of thousands of pieces — a source of much inspiration and edification for the architect and his students, and a key to understanding Wright's views on art and nature.

Here is a broad portrait of the master builder who sought the title "greatest architect of all time." Although it may never be possible to fully assess Wright's legacy, Kathryn Smith's authoritative book is a fitting testament to his lasting genius.

A Guide to the Ideas, Movements, and Techniques of Photography, 1839 to the Present

This handy volume provides an up-to-the-minute guide to the techniques, aesthetics, and critical jargon of photography.

A worthy companion to Abbeville's three very successful reference volumes in the series--ArtSpeak, ArtSpoke, and AntiqueSpeak--PhotoSpeak is an informative, user-friendly resource. The complexities of photographic techniques, from catalogue to digital imaging and beyond, are explained in clear, straightforward language. The international groups and movements of photography are elucidated in the same accessible who-when-where-what format that has made this series so useful. And the aesthetic concepts and critical language used to explain (and often obscure) photography over the last century and a half are demystified in illuminating, enjoyable prose. A time line and a chart of all the movements complement the text and the original selection of images.

Discover how to decorate with the informality, exuberance, color palette, and style of homes on the Mediterranean.

Vibrant, informal, and above all refreshingly simple, Mediterranean Style presents a world synonymous with relaxed living. From Provence and Tuscany to Marrakech, an imaginative sense of color and pattern prevails, as well as a creative use of natural material and local designs. Floors are natural wood or tiled with terra-cotta, ceilings have exposed beams, and the imperfections of brick and plaster can be highlighted with a light wash of color.Inspiring photographs of Mediterranean places and a practical text guide us through the parts of a large or small home, with chapters devoted to walls, floors, windows, doors, furnishings, and outdoor spaces.

In addition, there are 12 illustrated projects with clear instructions showing how to incorporate this style into a contemporary home.Packed with ideas, this original book explains how to achieve a simplicity that both reflects individual taste and is in tune with the current popularity for a unpretentious, informal, stylish home to relax in, whether a city apartment or a country house.

Eddie meets Grendel the junk monster, who conspires with him to leave his room in a mess. Through a series of adventures, Eddie discovers that being neat has definite rewards.

Eddie never throws anything away. He never puts anything away, either. When his mother goes on strike and refuses to clean his room anymore, Eddie shoves everything into a hug pile in the corner. One night the pile comes to life. Eddie has unwittingly created a monster. It calls itself Grendel, and it begins to dominate Eddie's life, growing in size with each possession Eddie fails to put away. Eventually Eddie realizes that unless he does something about it, Grendel, actually a professional and experience monster, will leave him with nothing.

Thumbnail Sketches of 50 Little Giants

Celebrating short people and offering proof that height has no bearing on success, this volume features lighthearted biographical profiles and caricatures of 50 towering personas.

A Short History cheers on short people and gives proof that height has no bearing on success. Featuring fifty lighthearted biographical profiles and caricatures showing their towering personas, this is the perfect gift for anyone who is short of stature.

Importance is often equated with height in our society. Author Joan Slomanson aims to do away with such misguided thinking and pays homage to those who have achieved greatness in spite of, or perhaps because of, their shortness.

Fifty celebrities and personalities from all walks of life-business and industry, philanthropy, politics, sports, and the arts-are featured in this entertaining celebration of the short among us. Clever biographical profiles highlight the achievements and careers, as well as the heights, of such notables as Ludwig van Beethoven, Queen Victoria, Tyrone (Muggsy) Bogues, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Mother Teresa, Truman Capote, Auguste Rodin, Danny DeVito, and Dr. Ruth Westheimer. Playful and attractive black-and-white caricatures further illustrate these people and their mighty endeavors.

If you are short of stature or if you know someone who is, you can't afford to pass up this homage to the accomplishments of the "vertically challenged"!

The story of Goldilocks is told here with simplicity and charm. It begins when she enters the bears' house and, one by one, tastes their porridge, sits in their chairs, and finally falls fast asleep in baby bear's bed, which fits her just right!

This charming series retells classic fairy tales with bright illustrations and a clever tone. The stories in the Classic Fairy Tales series have been adapted for children today while respecting the richness and flavor of the original versions. The small size of the books and their warm, inviting illustrations will appeal to children. In addition, children will love the game page at the end of each book, and they will want to read all the books in the series.

A lovely visual valentine that collects the most romantic images from the world's great photographers.

This lovely visual valentine collects the most romantic and heart-warming images from the world's great photographers. Drawn from around the globe, these moving illustrations capture the old and the young, the famous and the not-so-famous, in mid-kiss, mid-clutch, and mid-cuddle, forming an utterly captivating ode to love. xoxo

A fairy tale by Grimm

This charming series retells classic fairy tales with bright illustrations and a clever tone. The stories in the Abbeville Classic Fairy Tale series have been adapted for children today while respecting the richness and flavor of the original versions. The small size of the books and their warm, inviting illustrations will appeal to children. In addition, children will love the game page at the end of each book, and they will want to read all the books in the series.

An enterprising cat--with only a bag, a pair of boots, and some audacity--arranges for his owner, a poor farmer, to marry a princess and live happily every after.

This charming series retells classic fairy tales with bright illustrations and a clever tone. The stories in the Classic Fairy Tales series have been adapted for children today while respecting the richness and flavor of the original versions. The small size of the books and their warm, inviting illustrations will appeal to children. In addition, children will love the game page at the end of each book, and they will want to read all the books in the series.

When three little pigs set out to seek their fortunes, each builds a house--one from hay, another from wood, and third from bricks. However, a big, bad wolf destroys both the first and second houses. Luckily, the first two pigs are able to escape to their friend's brick house, where the three outwit the wolf, who cannot blow that house down and instead tries to enter through the chimney!

The stories in the Classic Fairy Tales series have been adapted for the children of today while respecting the richness and flavor of the original versions. Children will love the game page at the end of each book, and they will want to read all the books in the series.

Bring on the Blue explores the country environment through a field of forget-me-nots, the shadows of buildings, and bluefish in the bay.

Gorgeous collage watercolors and lyrical, light poems teach children about the role that individual colors play in our everyday lives—making every day mean something very special!

My First Colors is a unique series that introduces children to the wonderful colors and shades in the world around them. Gorgeous watercolor collages and lyrical, light poems teach children about the role colors play in our everyday lives.

Each book in the My First Colors series focuses on one of the primary colors, with a poetic text evoking the special qualities of its many shades. Every spread is a marvelous collage of torn paper aglow with flowing watercolors. The texture of the original illustrations comes through in these sparkling reproductions, making children want to touch the pages and seek colorful objects all around them. Children will learn that a single word can encompass many shades of meaning, and that colors are what make everyday life vivid and exciting!

Ready for Red highlights an urban environment through the cheeks of children playing in the snow, a bucket of berries to be made into jam, and city traffic lights and fire engines.

Gorgeous collage watercolors and lyrical, light poems teach children about the role individual colors play in our everyday lives--making "everyday" mean something very special!

My First Colors is a unique series that introduces children to the wonderful colors and shades in the world around them. Gorgeous watercolor collages and lyrical, light poems teach children about the role colors play in our everyday lives.

Each book in the My First Colors series focuses on one of the primary colors, with a poetic text evoking the special qualities of its many shades. Every spread is a marvelous collage of torn paper aglow with flowing water-colors. The texture of the original illustrations comes through in these sparkling reproductions, making children want to touch the pages and seek colorful objects all around them. Children will learn that a single word can encompass many shades of meaning, and that colors are what make everyday life vivid and exciting!

1470-1510

The second volume in the only comprehensive modern survey of the surviving frescoes created during the middle years of the great Italian Renaissance.

Praised by historians and art lovers alike, Steffe Roettgen's first volume on the frescoes of the early Italian Renaissance is the most comprehensive survey of the surviving fresco cycles painted from 1400 to 1470. In this second volume, featuring paintings from 1470 to 1510, scores of new photographs document the brilliance of works by Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Filippino Lippi, Mantegna, Perugino, and Signorelli in palaces and chapels stretching from the Alps to Rome.Professor Roettgen's concise and authoritative text illuminates such celebrated sites as the Tornabuoni Chapel in Florence, the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, and the Camera degli Sposi in Mantua. She also reveals the charm of lesser-known works, such as those in the tiny northern town of Issogne, which capture fifteenth-century men and women bargaining and flirting at an outdoor market.

Descriptive and interpretive essays on each of the seventeen cycles touch on all aspects of fresco painting: the artists and their patrons, cultural and historical conditions, local traditions, and technique. Each essay concludes with a diagram of the site, followed by a stunning series of full-page and double-page color plates of the wall paintings, many of them newly restored. This second volume of Professor Roettgen's survey builds on the strengths of Italian Frescoes: The Early Renaissance, and easily stands alone as a record of the spectacular art of a flourishing culture.

Message From Nature

Although originally trained as a painter, Shingu became interested in sculpture when he saw one of his shaped canvases turning softly in the wind. The work that followed relied on natural forces to make it move or make sound, and he began using more sophisticated materials for outdoor works. By the time of Expo '70 in Osaka, Shingu had been commissioned to create a piece for the plaza. It contained many of the elements he would use later: parts of it were moved by both wind and water, in some ways harnessing their power but also buffeted by it. His work walks the fine line between complementing nature and being an integral part of it. The pieces, though large, colorful, and usually made of modern materials, adopt nature's rhythms in their movement.

Shingu's sculpture is found around the world, from Japan to France, Italy, and the United States. In addition to creating sculptures, he has written and illustrated several children's books and designed several theater pieces that integrate his sculptures and installations with dramatic stories. All of these endeavors are collected here — along with the artist's comments on many of the sculptures, essays by Pierre Restany and Renzo Piano, and an interview with Joseph Giovannini — in a monograph that provides a complete portrait of Shingu's diverse career.

A Guide to the Styles, Techniques, and Materials of the Decorative Arts, from the Renaissance to Art Deco

Continuing the popular and illuminating "Speak" series, this handsomely designed volume offers a user-friendly lexicon of the decorative arts.

Understanding antiques requires knowledge of a specialized vocabulary that tells initiates what something is, where it came from, and when it was made. AntiqueSpeak provides this essential information in concise but illuminating essays that cover almost a millennium of styles (such as Baroque and Art Deco), materials (glass, ivory), types of objects (furniture, toys and games), specialized areas of collecting (folk art, Judaica), and concerns involved with acquiring and caring for antiques (auctions, condition, marks and signatures).

In addition, the book includes a handy one-page StyleChart; a section of color plates (one for each major style); an album of ornaments and classical orders, represented by line drawings; labeled drawings of selected furniture types; an introduction that explains how to use the book; and an invaluable index that provides dates and nationalities for all the designers, craftsmen, artists, and others discussed in the entries.

The Painted Villages of Mesoamerica

A tour-de-force photographic voyage into the living world of the Maya, where color is not merely a matter of preference but a powerful statement of belief.

Color-and the symbolic ways that the Maya of Mexico and Central America paint their homes, places of worship, and dwellings for their dead-is the focus of this breathtakingly beautiful and achingly poignant new book. No one who picks up this volume will ever again think of the region solely for its sunny beaches and ancient ruins, nor picture the Maya as a vanished people of the distant past. Through dazzling photographs, vivid travel tales, and the Maya's own poetic voices, readers will come to know the modern Maya as remarkable survivors who continue to sow their deified corn, commune with their gods, and paint life into their color-drenched village walls.

Nearly a decade ago Jeffrey Becom (author and photographer of Mediterranean Color) turned his attention from the Old World to the New and together with his wife, Sally Jean Aberg, discovered a realm where color is not merely a matter of preference but a powerful statement of belief. Come along as the pair trek through a steamy jungle in search of ancient murals, join a highland shaman giving birth to the soul of a house, and crisscross the parched Yucatán Peninsula as villagers celebrate the Days of the Dead with dynamite, incense, flowers, rum, prayers, and paint. In the process they discover that the colors of a corn yellow house, a blood red altar, and a jade green tomb serve as a connective cord stretching back to the painted pyramids. Maya Color is a visual and verbal feast.

New York Times critic Paul Goldberger calls Becom's images "poised between the making of art and the documentation of architecture. . . . He takes a tiny swath of the vernacular landscape and makes of it a composition with the brilliance and intensity of an abstract painting."

Figures and Landscapes

With impressive new scholarship and many previously unpublished, color-drenched images, this gloriously beautiful book reveals a new aspect of the artist's remarkable career.

Although most renowned for his dazzling society portraits, Sargent took greatest pleasure in escaping his studio to paint out of doors. In the past, his far-flung expeditions have been dismissed as little more than tourist jaunts. But with this book-the first significant study of the figures and landscapes that Sargent painted from 1900 (after he had established himself as one of the foremost portraitists of the age) through 1914 (when World War I changed his world)-it becomes clear that his travel paintings constitute a far larger and more important aspect of his work than previously realized. Many of these oils and watercolors come from private collections and have rarely, if ever, been seen in the years since the artist's death in 1925.

Three of the book's five chapters approach Sargent's paintings thematically, investigating the work he produced in the Alps, around the Mediterranean, and in Venice; as these enlightening essays make clear, each locale inspired a distinctive response from the artist. In the mountains he painted bubbling streams, distant views, and languorous girls in alpine meadows. In the south, he painted fruits and flowers, fragments of architecture, and villas and gardens that are dreamlike in their evocation of the past. The first essay provides a useful background to Sargent's preoccupation with landscape subjects after 1900 and traces the broad development of his style and the major influences on his work. The final essay recounts the diverse critical responses to Sargent's plein-air painting during his lifetime.

For the first time, Sargent's extensive travels are thoroughly documented here, using letters and diaries written by his companions. Charming vintage photographs, including some that Sargent is believed to have taken himself, chronicle his adventures and cast new light on this intensely private artist. The book also includes an invaluable chronology of the artist's travels as well as brief biographies of his traveling companions-mostly beloved family and dear friends-who accompanied Sargent on his creative journeys.